Improved instrument for opening bottles



NITED STATES vPATENT OFFICE@ JOHN MATTHEWS, JR., OF NEWT YORK, N. Y.

. Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,422, dated lune527, 1865.

cation, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the instrument. Fig. 2 is acentral vertical section of a bottle closed by means of an inner valve,andshows the application of my instrument, which is represented in redoutline.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both of thegures.

The object of this invention is to provide for` the opening of suchstoppers as are applied within bottles or other yessels and closed fromthe inside either by means of a spring or by the pressure of the gasevolved from the liquid contents of the vessel or with which the saidcontents have been mechanically charged, or by any other means.

The invention consists of a tube or other device ot' suitable size andform to enter the mouth of the bottle or other vessel and press thestopper inward away from its seat without interfering materially withthe ingress or egress ot' the'liquid, and one or more attached clasps orother devices to operate against the .exterior ofthe bottle or othervessel in such manner as to serve both as a guide to keep the tube orother internally-acting device in place and as a means of holding itagainst the pressure by which the stopper isclosed when theopening-instrument is removed from the b ottle or vessel.

The instrument may be made in a variety of forms 5 but it will besufficient for the illustration ot' my invention to represent bydrawings and describe that form which I atpresent consider adapted forthe most extensive and general use, and I will now-proceed to describeit with reference to the drawings.

To a metallic cap-`piece, A, of a circular form, is secured, by rivetingor otherwise, the elastic caps or clips B B B, which are made either ofwire or steel plate. The said cap-piece has acentral opening, to whichis attached a tube or hollow boss of any hard, durable, and water-proofmaterial-such as vulcanized india-rubber or gutta-percha-of an externaldiameter that will just allow it to pass loosely into the neck of thebottle. Through this tube the liquid passes when being poured from theneck of the vessel which contains it, and any leakage which would occurfrom the liquid passing along the sides of this center piece and outbetween the mouth of the bottle and the lower surface of the cap A isprevented by a soft-rubber packing-rin g, D, which forms a water-tightjoint between the mouth of the bottle and the cap A when the instrumentis applied to open the stopper of a bottle, us shown by' the red outlinein Fig. 2.

wardly-opening valve,such as is represented in section in Fig. 2, theinstrument-the cap being uppermostis forced downward over the neckofthe'bottle E, the clasps, clips, or springs B B B spring apart untilthey clear the upper portion of the neck of the bottle, and the portionsofthe springs which are bent toward the center enter the depression s ofthe bottles neck and hold the valve F open by the hollowA center pushingagainst the helical spring G', which is fastened to the valve-stem H.The contained liquid can then be poured out, or, if the vessel is empty,the same may be lled.

In order to allow the valve to close, the instrumentis withdrawn and thevalveis brought to its seat again by the spring. This bottleopenerentirely obviates the necessity of the person opening the bottle holdingthe valve in that position against the pressure of the gas and thesustaining-spring G so long as he desires the liquid to run from thebottle, for the clasps, clips, or springs not only hold the tube C` orits equivalent against the valve vor stopper, but in case ot' the saidtube or Vequivalent not being of a form to lit the neck ot' the positionas will not interfere with the llin g or pouring.

In order to open a bottle closed-by an in-v bottle they serve as guidesto keep itin such The clasps by which the opener is attached to thebottle may be constructed and applied to operate upon any other portionof the bottlc than the neckas for i nstancc, to hook over the bottom.

The cap-piece may be of a form to t over the exterior of the bottle andserve as the guide to keep the tube G or its equivalent in its place inthe neck, in which case a single clasp or hook attached to the neckwould serve to hold the instrument on the bottle.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An instrument for opening and holding open the inwardlyclosingstopper of a bottle,

consisting of an internally-operating device for JOHN MATTHEWS, JR.

Witnesses:

HENRY T. BROWN, GEO. W. REED.

